NEW DELHI: This significant ruling from the Supreme Court is sure to nip the growing tendency among ruling political parties to change the course of a investigation by forcing the police to abuse the law permitting further probe and filing of additional chargesheet.The apex court's `do not tinker with the course of investigation' message came loud and clear in its judgment delivered on Thursday by a Bench comprising Justices S B Sinha and P Sathasivam. It ruled that the police could not effect radical changes in the crux of a chargesheet by filing an additional chargesheet after conducting further probe.This means, if the police have made a person accused in the first chargesheet, it cannot, while submitting an additional chargesheet, give a clean chit to him.Under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code, police had the power to carry out further probe into a case even after filing a chargesheet and on discovery of further evidence could file an additional chargesheet, said the Bench stating the law."Further investigation is permissible, however, reinvestigation is prohibited. The law does not mandate taking of prior permission from the magistrate for further investigation. Carrying out a further investigation even after filing of the chargesheet is statutory right of the police," it said.However, police could undertake reinvestigation only with the prior permission of the concerned magistrate, said Justice Sathasivam, writing the judgment for the Bench.Explaining the meaning of Section 173(8) of CrPC, he said: "Further investigation is the continuation of the earlier investigation and not a fresh investigation or reinvestigation to be started ab initio wiping out the earlier investigation altogether."On completion of the "further" probe, the investigating agency had to forward to the magistrate a "further" report and not a fresh report regarding "further" evidence obtained during such investigation, the Bench said.After giving this ruling, the apex court dismissed an appeal filed by one Rama Devi who had challenged a Patna High Court order dismissing the plea for quashing of the chargesheet filed in a kidnapping case to which the police had later added charges under the Arms Act.dhananjay.mahapatra@timesgroup.com